As of late, dealers have been reporting slowdowns when it comes to residential replacement. To combat these downtrends, some retailers are considering entering new flooring sectors and are looking for alternative revenue sources. Here are some things you should consider about each:
Sister Flooring Product Lines
- easy way to expand
- increases ticket amounts for existing customers
- brings in new customers
- requires you to update showrooms and website
Multi-Family Housing / Main Street Commercial
- helps build repeat business (individual units/buildings will need updating regularly)
- is a competitive market
- requires a high amount of sales outreach/networking
- may take time to get foot in the door
- margins are typically smaller because of the competitiveness of the field
New Construction and Designers
- similiar to multi-family / main street commercial, it is highly competitive, it requires concentrated sales and outreach efforts, and has smaller margins
- you often have to wait until project/phase is completed to get paid
- tends to be higher risk because of the many factors that impact project completion
Bid Commercial
- jobs are typically larger and go for a longer period of time
- high likelihood of bieng paid on a monthly basis
- harder to break into because you need a lot of expertise
- requires specialized skills and processes
- there's a slim margin of error when it comes to bids/estimates
- must be aware of projects that are coming up for bid
- billing requirements (like AIA) can become complex
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